Category Archives: The Awesome

Country, Folk, Music, Music Video, New Release, Punk, Review, Rock, The Awesome

Album Review: Old Man Markley – Guts N’ Teeth

27 June, 2011 Brian Mc Leave a comment

I have been digging Old Man Markley‘s self-proclamed genre of “Newgrass” for quite some time now, but it appears that I forgot to let the rest of the world know. The band released Guts N’ Teeth on Fat Wreck Chords back in January and I guess I enjoyed it so much that I failed to talk it up a bunch. So, 5-months later, without further au-due, ladies and gentlemen, Old Man Markley…

So, wait – what is this “Newgrass” genre I speak of? It is a fine mix of punk, folk, and bluegrass making for one catchy sound. Think old school country jam meets folk rock / punk rock fueled by countless rounds of draft beers at your favorite drinking hole with friends.

If having a good time could be put in music form, “Newgrass” is probably what it would sound like.

Back in 2007, the band started off in LA jamming out in a bluegrass fashion as well as took countless bluegrass favorites of theirs and covered them in a much different way based upon their own punk rock standards. After a couple years the band, containing up to nine people currently, took all they knew musically and pushed out their debut album Guts N’ Teeth. The result is one of the best CDs I have heard in 2011 and I am not just saying that. Put it this way, the moment I heard the opening track, I placed my order for the vinyl because I had to have it in my collection.

“For Better For Worse” was that catchy track I heard. I was an instant fan. It was a mix of all the current types of music I have been digging lately – Folk, country, punk, and bluegrass. The song was full on energy even if singing of a girl that can’t be had. Resembling something sounding like Tumbledown meets Dropkick Murphys, the song made you want to throw a foot to the ground a few hundred times while tossing back drinks. Does it sound to you as if I liked this track? You bet your ass I did.

Following was “At The Bottom”, a banjo-heavy track full of group vocals backing up singing about passing out at the bottom of a bottle. “Running Weight” was a fiddle frenzy track that was more like an adventure if anything about getting from point A to point B without getting caught.

“Do Me Like You Do” was an entertaining cover of the 1924 song written by Gene Austin and Roy Bergere. Covered usually by jazz artists, this mean bluegrass version was full of fun a quarrel at the same time. Slowing down things a bit was “Song Songs”, a song about all the songs that many members of this band have probably written for others throughout the years.

Another track that caught my ear was “Letterman”, a song of an angered escape surrounded by some amazing folk rock music, especially the harmonica playing. With harsh lyrics like, “so now your hiding in a sad song, we don’t want to sing along”, it’s clear that the song is not aimed for good feelings one bit. “Lowdown Blues” was a prime example of what the Stray Cats would have sounded like if they ditched the whole rockabilly feel and moved to the mountains.

I would not have been surprised if Tim Barry and the Avett Brothers had something to do with “Living and Learning”. Hell, even Slobberbone hints throughout this track. I guess it’s that time where I tell you if you need to listen to one track on this album it’s this one. Seriously, good shit right here.

For a bunch of punkers from L.A. who used to be in bands such as Youth Brigade and Angel City Outcasts, Old Man Markley is downright impressive. Mandolins, banjos, fiddles, autoharp, harmonica, washboard, and high spirited singing full up this album of non-stop folk/punk/rock goodness. Like I said before, this is one of my favorite albums of 2011 and to think, it came out in the beginning of the year. I dare anyone out there who says they like folk or country to tell me that there is not at least one song on this album that made them thing “damn, them boys is good”, because as a pretty solid fan of those genres, that is exactly what I said.

Old Man Markley will be touring with NOFX and Anti-Flag this Fall and as luck would have it, they are hitting Cleveland. I know I will be in attendance that night. Something tells me I will not regret it.

Can I just comment on the above video? Best. Video. Ever.

Music, The Awesome, Vinyl

Shop Radio Cast

24 June, 2011 Brian Mc 20 Comments

I’ve been meaning to give some props to an online record store for a couple of weeks now. The company I speak of is called Shop Radio Cast and I have been buying from them for a while now.

Fans of limited edition pressings and especially punk rock releases will get a kick out of this site. They seem to always carry the stuff I can not find in my neck of the woods. There’s nothing like just jumping online and snagging what you want right there and then without being overpriced.

I feel like I am a commercial… Shop Cast. Shop, Radio Cast.

Honestly, it is not just the selection, but also the great customer service. The guys at Shop Radio Cast answer questions quickly and will resolve any problem as fast as they can.

Case and point: I ordered the Record Store Day version of The Menzingers Chamberlain Waits in April after having no luck in Ohio finding it. I did not open it for weeks and when I finally did this past week I discovered it was the regular black vinyl version and not the Record Store Day blue version I thought I had purchased. I emailed the company to tell them of my disappointment thinking that I was out of luck getting the limited edition version and not even a couple hours later received a response. It was a simple overlook, but the company made sure that I was taken care of, and guess what? They were able to locate a Record Store Day version for me and I should have it soon.

It’s nice to have customer service like that. I have dealt with other online records stores (whose names will remain unnamed…..for now) and either got shitty, short replies or no response at all.

So, props to you fine folk at Shop Radio Cast. You make it easy for me to waste all of my hard earned money on my addiction also known as vinyl. Keep up the good work!

Record collectors… Check them out. www.shopradiocast.com They don’t just deal with punk rock genres but also rock and indie. If you are turned down by the idea of vinyl, they sell CDs, clothing and even hot sauce. Bitchin’.

UPDATE: I feel the need to let anyone who stumbles upon this post that SRC never threw me any freebies back in 2011 when I posted this. I was being sincere.

Over the years, I continued ordering from them but pretty much stopped after the SRC vinyl subscription series was introduced.

I felt kind of cheated out in a way with that series as I was never told I was in the top 10 until I received the first record and then realized the limited edition hand numbered pressings were just records with a cardboard sleeve over them. I was expecting something a little more official I suppose.

Regardless, having Hum and Quicksand in my collection is pretty bad ass.

As far as SRC goes as a company, I know for a fact that they are not a big operation and there are a handful of them who run that show. As far as ordering and customer service, I personally never had issues with them, but that was after I realized they communicated within their website to the consumer rather than a direct email.

Seeing comments still come in to this day almost bums me out for the sake of SRC, but I also know in the world of retail, stand alone store or online, you need to bust your ass and keep things running smooth.

Here’s hoping they can fix any of the problems with orders out there and reflect as the website I once referred to.

Download This!, Electronic, Indie, Music, Music News, Rock, The Awesome

Download This!: Minus The Bear – Hold Me Down EP

20 May, 2011 Brian Mc Leave a comment

One of my favorite indie/rock/happy bands, Minus The Bear, have decided to post their new EP titled Hold Me Down for free download (see below for link).

The EP features the title track (off of OMNI), three live tracks recorded at the Dangerbird Records studios, a b-side titled “Broken China” and a “My Time” remix.

Did I mention it is free? I think I did. You know what to do…

90's, Cleveland, Good Times, Live Shows, Music, Punk, Review, Rock, The Awesome

Concert Review: Face To Face / Strung Out – Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH – 05/10/2011

11 May, 2011 Brian Mc 2 Comments

Last night was a blast to the past, specifically 1996, thanks to punk legends Face To Face and Strung Out who made a stop in Cleveland at Peabody’s. The fact that the show landed on a Tuesday night meant nothing to all who filled up the venue to almost sold out proportions. Fans generally were a little older at the show seeing how the main bands playing ruled the punk scene in the mid-nineties. It was actually refreshing to be surrounded by such a crowd as I was in their company 15-years ago at random shows. There were so many familiar faces, it was like a punk rock reunion of sorts.

The Artist Life opened the show but I did not get into the venue in time to see them. My friends really did not have much to say about them, but after checking out their MySpace profile, I would not have mind to have taken them in. The Toronto foursome kind of reminds me of a mix of some of the newer punk acts I have been digging recently like Menzingers mixed with AM Taxi.

Long Beach, CA’s The Darlings took the stage to a full crowd and did their best to impress. The crowd was just not into them at all. They did not heckle the band or anything, but there was not that much cheering or crowd response at all. In fact, the old time the band got the crowd riled up was not when they played a Misfits cover, but when they played “Cruel World”

Strung Out, on the other hand, had no problem what so ever getting the crowd going. Taking the stage, the band dropped into “Too Close To See” and basically just hammered through an impressive set. Fans went wild when they played “Firecracker” followed by “Mind Of My Own” with Jason Cruz sounding better than ever on vocals.

During “In Harms Way” the band decided to reline the 90s a little more and did a nice little breakdown of Pantera’s “Walk” to which the fans all sang along to. Even though they were all hard at work, Strung Out also decided to do a live audition for a new guitarist for all to see and invited Jim Blowers from Pulley to fill in on a “Speedball”. Needless to say, Blowers proved he has what it takes to play in Strung Out.

My pal Chewy said it best about Strung Out’s set when he turned to me while we both took in the show and said that “this is one of those bands you listen to on CD thinking – wow, I wonder if they sound this awesome live?” He paused, turned his head to watch the show for a couple more seconds and looked back at me with a huge grin on his face and happily said “yup.”

He was right. Strung Out is one of the more technical punk rock acts out there and even though the band is going on 20 years, they sounded amazing if not better since the last time I saw them. Rocking through tracks old and new, the band finally thanked Cleveland for allowing them to play for them and finished off their set with “Bring Out Your Dead” and “Matchbook”. The crowd of course wanted more, and I am sure the band wanted to play more, but everyone knew they would have to wait till the next time they rolled through town.

The headliners of the night, Face To Face, finally took the stage to an adoring crowd. The band was all smiles as they broke into “You Lied”, a punk rock classic followed by “You’ve Done Nothing”. About four songs into the set, Trevor Keith announced that his voice was finally coming back and without hesitation started throwing out snark remarks to the crowd in good fun. The crowd took it well and realizing that he had everyone’s attention, Keith announced that the band would be playing a new track titled “It’s Not All About You”.

I am not sure the crowd really was into the new track played, but I can tell you that the following three songs the band played including “Ordinary”, “I Won’t Lie Down”, and “Blind” was a whole different story. Everyone, including myself, had their eyes on the stage and sang along every single lyric to those songs. Keith and company looked impressed and Keith even mentioned hoe he was feeling an “old school punk rock vibe” in the venue and liked how there was not a line of bouncers in front of the stage.

He continued how he wanted everyone to have a fun time and wished for no one to get hurt. He invited fans on stage one to two people at a time as they played and told them to do their thing and jump back in the crowd, just like the good old days. Keith also warned that anyone acting like an ass would have to face the bouncers located on both sides of the stage. After noticing some of the smaller folk in the crowd he even went so far as to inviting a handful of girls to watch the show on the side of the stage. Keith was looking out for the fans last night, that is for sure.

After laying down the rules, the band continued with “Pastel”, another new track titled “All For Nothing”, and one of my favorites “A-OK”. Honestly this might have been the best performance I have ever seen by Face To Face. They looked so happy to be playing on stage again after being on hiatus for about 8 years (minus last year’s 30 minute Warped Tour set).

With minimal breaks between songs, the bad kept moving on with “Velocity” and “Complicated”, perhaps my favorite Face To Face track ever. Hearing it live just made me love it even more.

When fans threw beers towards the stage, Keith avoided acting like a Weasel and laughed saying “I Don’t Want That!” He was having a good time and that made the show that much more entertaining. Just for kicks, the band decided to play a country song, more specifically “Keep Your Hands To Yourself” by the Georgia Satellites. Keith was amazed when the entire crowd sang the chorus in unison and admitted that he thought Cleveland was amazing.

Putting an end to the night, the bad played “Big Choice” and treated everyone to “Disconnected”, perhaps the band’s most commercially friendly song. Popular or not, I loved hearing it live and practically lost my voice singing along with. The band thanked everyone for coming out and exited the stage only to return for a two song encore, one new track, and one old track.

Seeing Face To Face and Strung Out play live together in one night was a dream come true. I felt like a kid all over again seeing both of the 90s acts take the stage. I was impressed with how both bands sounded live and how excited they were to be performing to the crowd. They were both top notch throughout and I could not ask for a better punk rock show.

Cleveland, Eye Opener, Good Times, Music, Personal Entry, Photography, Punk, Rock, The Awesome

Charity Event w/ Rise Against & Radio 92.3

9 May, 2011 Brian Mc 3 Comments

Last week I received a phone call while studying for my last final and I almost did not answer it, but I am glad I did. I thought it was a telemarker and was prepared to be a complete douche on the phone. I am glad I answered it without being a huge jerk because it was Nard from Cleveland’s Radio 92.3 letting me know that I won a contest I had entered on the 92.3 website about a week ago.

I won the chance to do community service with Rise Against on Saturday afternoon at the Malachi House in Cleveland and also scored a pair of tickets to the Rise Against / Bad Religion show later that evening.

I was stoked. Not so much for the tickets, but to work next to Rise Against and perform charity work is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Rise Against made the decision a few years ago to give back to the community any way they can to the cities they tour in. Back in 2009, Rise Against made a stop at the Cleveland Food Bank and donated some of their time. This time around they were asked by members of 92.3 if they would like to do some community service at the Malachi House. Without hesitation they agreed to do so and 92.3 put together a contest for five lucky winners and a guest to do work around the Malachi House for a couple of hours.

Let me explain what the Malachi House is all about.

The Malachi House is a house for the terminally ill that is operated on donations only. There is no government funding at all for this house and is the only house (I will not use the world facility as it is not one, it is a house) of its kind in the United States.

Established in 1983, the house is open to anyone who is basically given six-months to live but have no one to care for them or can not afford to pay for the care. Since they opened, they have cared for almost 1600 people.

The house has 17 rooms for the residents and is open to all ages and races. There is no fee for any resident who decides that they wish to stay at the house. Food is provided to them, they are given a clean bed, clothing, and basically anything else to help make their stay more comfortable.

Once I won the contest, I knew immediately who I wanted to come with me so I asked her and of course she said yes. She was as stoked as I was do be able to offer help to an organization as well as hang out with Rise Against so the plan was to head down to good ol’ Ohio City around 12:30p.

We arrived a tad early to the Malachi House Saturday and hung outside of the building looking ever so lost when a very nice lady named Alice Sawyers poked her head out of the entrance and asked if we were volunteers and let us inside. Once the other contest winners arrived, we all went into a lower-level conference room where Sawyers gave everyone a little history about the Malachi House.

Sawyers, a volunteer coordinator, made us all aware that the Malachi House was in fact a house and not a facility. She was very passionate about talking of this one-of-a-kind organization. Once the band arrived, she gave everyone a tour. We all got to see a huge collection of donated foods and supplies as well as met a couple of residents and even one of the resident’s dog who comes to visit her.

I will admit, it was depressing as hell to listen to her talk about what goes on in the house and then walk through it.

I’ll just say it: People come to die at the Malachi House.

In fact, one of the rooms we were in had a nicely made bed with a heart-shaped pillow and a flower on it. Sawyers informed everyone that when someone passes they leave the heart-shaped pillow and flower for 24-48 hours as tribute to their friend who stayed at the house.

I am not going to lie, that was a little rough to learn. I know I am not the only one who felt that way in the room.

The positive aspect of the house though is that these people who may have had a tough life in the past are given a chance to live comfortably until they pass on. Hospice care comes to the house daily as there are no in-house medical personnel. Basically those who chose to live their final days at Malachi are provided with everything possible at no charge to them.

The donations that keep the Malachi House running come in all forms including food, clothing, and of course money. Sawyers mentioned to us that someone recently donated $5000 and then dropped another check off a couple of days later for $20,000 because the lady who donated the money had bad eyesight and meant to have a check cut for $25,000.

Nice to know there are still good people out there.

The volunteer work was basically light housekeeping and landscaping in and around the house. Tim McIlrath (lead singer/guitarist) and Brandon Barnes (drums) went inside with half of the crew to clean up some of the rooms. I chose to work outside when asked if I would help clean up a parking lot. Zach Blair (lead guitarist), Nard (radio awesomeness), and three sweet ladies (looks like I picked the right group…) joined me in doing so.

In all seriousness though, it was cool to help out the Malachi House do maintenance to the beds that surrounded the lot as well as clean up the debris with Zach and the others. He was a cool dude and told me why Rise Against started giving back to the community.

He in a nutshell told me that they were tired of the bullshit promotions they were asked to do. Were he was totally for meet and greets with fans, he was tired of doing stupid events like racing go-karts and other nonsense. The band all agreed that they wanted to do something where they would not only be able to meet fans but also give back to the communities they toured at.

I should mention Nard tried his best to romance Zach and gave him a flower that might have been accidentally picked. Note: Zach was not wearing the flower during the show later that night. Sorry man, it was not meant to be!

Before I knew it, it was time for the band to head out and do a sound check down the street at the newly named Jacobs Pavilion (I still call it Nautica). All the members of Rise Against made sure that all of the volunteers got some pictures and autographs prior to heading out.

I’ve always liked Rise Against since they first dropped The Unraveling in 2001 and have dug all of their releases since. Hanging out with them at the Malachi House though brought a stronger appreciation for them as people though. They are a bunch of good people who just so happen to rock out nightly. They did not help at the Malachi House because they had to, they did it because they wanted to. That right there I am a fan of.

The show that night was amazing. I went as a fan and not a reviewer or critic. I left my notepad and pen at home and just took in a concert for me with a few good people and thousands of fans. Bad Religion was already playing when I got there which was depressing as it was about 8 o’clock when we arrived… As bummed as I was, I soaked in their top notch performance – like I would expect anything else.

Rise Against took the stage to the sold out crowd and proceeded to just rock out and entertain. It was awesome, and that’s all I am going to say about that. If you were there, I know you will agree…

Thanks 92.3 for putting together this great contest. I know I was not the only one moved by it.

Special thanks to webmaster Carl Harp at WNCX/WKRK for hooking me up with some photos from the Malachi House event.

For more information about the Malachi House, I encourage you to check out their website www.malachihouse.org. As I mentioned before, it is a one-of-a-kind organization that truly is there to help the ones in absolute need. I know I am already planning a way to give to the Malachi House as I was so touched by what they do. With all that goes on in the world daily, it is so nice to see a group of people who just want to help folk out who have no one else to go to.